Hydronic radiant cooling systems when included in a building’s HVAC design have the potential to both heavily affect a buildings energy and peak demand savings, while maintaining a high level of thermal comfort. Radiant systems can take several forms, some of which are more widely adopted in the North American markets and some continue to be niche systems. The most prevalent of the hydronic radiant systems is that which embed PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) tubing within the thermal mass (concrete) of a building. This presentation will primarily highlight these types of “embedded radiant systems” exploring where and how radiant can benefit a building’s HVAC design.

Over the course of this PES presentation Mr. Rohr and Mr. Westlund of REHAU’s Region Americas Headquarters will dig deeper into the fundamentals behind hydronic radiant heating and cooling and provide insight gleaned from hundreds of radiant projects. The presentation will be divided into two primary sections. First, radiant heat transfer and how a radiant system can be used to a specifier’s advantage will be covered; including both qualitative and quantitative support from a diverse set of case studies. Secondly, the presentation will shift to project design and walk through some of the typical pitfalls specifiers may encounter when attempting to create a radiant equipment schedule for an effective and efficient construction process. Attendees should leave the presentation with an understanding of both why radiant systems can be advantageous to their clients HVAC needs and also how one should go about planning for an integrated hydronic radiant heating and cooling system.

The presentation will provide an overview of modern renewable energy wood heating systems in commercial, industrial and institutional settings. While many engineers and HVAC professionals are becoming more familiar with other renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal, they are less familiar with modern wood heating technology. Starting with case studies, it will cover wood fuel types, boilers, boiler efficiencies and emissions. In addition, the presentation will address many of the issues often associated with wood heat such as air pollution control, carbon neutrality, and forest health.